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Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2026-57995

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click 8 weeks old

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
phpMyFAQ before 4.1.5 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in GroupController::updatePermissions that allows GROUP_EDIT administrators to grant arbitrary rights to groups without verifying they hold those rights themselves. A delegated administrator can exploit this by assigning high-value permissions to a group they belong to, inheriting those rights and escalating privileges up to full administrative control.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.5 has a privilege escalation in GroupController::updatePermissions where GROUP_EDIT administrators can assign arbitrary permissions to groups without the system validating they actually possess those rights. A delegated admin can assign high-value permissions to their own group, inheriting administrative-level access they were not originally granted.

MitigationUpgrade to phpMyFAQ 4.1.5 or later, which should include proper authorization validation in GroupController::updatePermissions to verify the requesting admin holds the permissions they attempt to assign.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed phpMyFAQ version
    Check the version file or admin dashboard for the current phpMyFAQ version number
    Affected if Version is before 4.1.5 (e.g., 4.1.4, 4.1.0, 3.x series, etc.)
  2. Verify GroupController::updatePermissions exists
    Locate the file inc/PMF/Controller/GroupController.php (or similar path) and inspect the updatePermissions method for authorization validation logic
    Affected if The method lacks proper permission validation checks before allowing permission assignment
  3. Identify users with GROUP_EDIT permission
    Query the database or admin panel for users who have GROUP_EDIT permissions, then compare their assigned permission set against their actual intended access level
    Affected if There exist users with GROUP_EDIT rights who do not possess the high-value permissions they could assign to their group
  4. Audit group permission assignments
    Review all group permission configurations, particularly looking for groups owned by GROUP_EDIT admins that contain elevated permissions they should not logically have
    Affected if Any group assigned permissions beyond what the managing GROUP_EDIT admin explicitly holds

A user is affected if running phpMyFAQ version before 4.1.5 AND any user possesses GROUP_EDIT permissions without corresponding high-value permissions that could be assigned to their group.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to phpMyFAQ 4.1.5 or later, which should include proper authorization validation in GroupController::updatePermissions to verify the requesting admin holds the permissions they attempt to assign.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

phpMyFAQ 4.1.5 or later

  1. 1. Back up your current phpMyFAQ installation and database before making any changes
  2. 2. Download phpMyFAQ version 4.1.5 or later from the official repository (github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ)
  3. 3. Replace the existing phpMyFAQ files with the new version, preserving your configuration and database connection settings
  4. 4. Verify that the GroupController::updatePermissions method in the new version includes proper privilege verification
  5. 5. Test that GROUP_EDIT administrators can no longer assign permissions they don't themselves possess
  6. 6. Confirm existing group permissions remain intact after the upgrade
  7. 7. Clear any application caches to ensure the new code is loaded
Caveat Review the changelog between your current version and 4.1.5 for any breaking changes to functionality or configuration

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-57995 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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